This blog is totally independent and has only three major objectives.
The first is to inform readers of news and happenings in the e-Health domain, both here in Australia and world-wide.
The second is to provide commentary on e-Health in Australia and to foster improvement where I can.
The third is to encourage discussion of the matters raised in the blog so hopefully readers can get a balanced view of what is really happening and what successes are being achieved.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

It Will Be Interesting To See Where This Is Heading. Looks Important And Not Good!

Sorry to interrupt the Summer of cricket but this might be pretty important.

Government puts key talks on health reform on hold for six months

FEDERAL, state and territory health ministers earlier this year resolved to have a high-level advisory committee explore "possible future directions for future reform of Australia's health system".

The committee was to look at how this could be done through a closer working relationship between GPs and hospitals, better e-health solutions and improved co-ordination of care for people with chronic and complex conditions, including cancer.

The NSW government was then tasked with reporting on the progress of the existing National Health Reform Agreement, including the performance of various bodies established by the Rudd and Gillard governments, and with developing a framework and timeline for further reform work.

The much-anticipated blueprint was not delivered at last month's meeting of the Standing Council on Health as expected, and documents obtained by The Weekend Australian under Freedom of Information laws show it was deliberately deferred.

A briefing paper for federal Health Minister Peter Dutton shows the federal government wanted to delay the blueprint presentation until the council meets next May, to allow further budget cuts and governance changes to be detailed.

"We do not currently have a clear indication of the government's inclination to support further health reform," the paper said.

There was also some concern that preparation of a blueprint "may initiate reform proposals from the states and territories that the commonwealth does not support" whereas "deferral will allow more time to ensure the proposed work aligns with the commonwealth government health priorities".

The delay is clearly to allow the present Government to absorb and develop responses to the Medicare Locals Review, the PCEHR Review and the Commission of Audit - all of which seem likely to be responded to in the May Budget.

One has to imagine that the deferral means there is going to be budget action one way or another in these areas. I would lay ‘London to a brick’ that funding increases are not actually being seriously considered. I think you can also be sure the Health Sector overall is going to take some sort of hit in May!

3 comments:

Thanks for posting this one, David, and don't worry about the cricket.Have a look at Partners in Recovery. Someone in mental health may know a lot more about it, but the list under Mental Health Programs indicates a very complex set of poorly met needs. Outcomes from PIR, if they are, indeed, measurable, could be a valid way of assessing the worth of Medicare Locals. For instance, the Northern Melbourne Medicare Local has, as a PIR organisation, taken on the supervision of three Area Mental Health Services, as well as other agencies. I would have thought that, if Area Mental Health Services were already communicating with each other to facilitate coordination of care of people with complex needs, then that kernel could be built on. I could be wrong, but I have a suspicion that the systems used by each of those Area Mental Health Services do not communicate with each other. I can't find any mention of IT, let alone the NEHR. Wouldn't you think that coordination of care requires interaction of IT systems? Under the 'Resource development project' is where I'd expect to find IT resources. But, that whole segment has been spun off to a consultancy. SigginsMiller does have projects in eHealth, including"A two year evaluation of the National Drug Strategic Framework for the Department of Health and Ageing including the evaluation of information systems to assist pharmacists to prevent illicit use of pharmaceuticals."We know how that one is going.

I think this is great news. There will clearly be a fundamental review of the whole approach to healthcare delivery rather than more fiddling at the margins. There are now enough healthcare systems models to provide useful comparisons. Now let me see, where would I start?

Enrolling patients with general practices and GP budget holding for starters, plus a serious eHealth programme aimed to support the continuum of care delivery across primary and secondary care and back again.

Another reincarnation of the NEHR/PCEHR HealthConnect etc would just be throwing good money after bad...